An Unprecedented Abuse of Presidential Power

Obama’s attempt today to “recess appoint” Richard Cordray while the Senate is not in recess is an unprecedented abuse of presidential power.

It also flies in the face of the legal analysis of an adviser he respected so much that he elevated her to the Supreme Court.

Elena Kagan wrote to the Supreme Court on April 26, 2010:

Although a President may fill such vacancies through the use of his recess appointment power … the Senate may act to foreclose this option by declining to recess for more than two or three days at a time over a lengthy period. For example, the Senate did not recess intrasession for more than three days at a time for over a year beginning in late 2007.

Obama’s attempt to “recess appoint” Cordray while the Senate is in pro forma session is especially galling in light of the disastrous structure of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the broad, unchecked powers that Cordray will wield over the United States economy.

As I discuss in Democracy Denied, this president is intent on rendering Congress irrelevant so he can radically transform America. He must be stopped.